Phenicia Koicuba joined The Lighthouse Podcast for the season 4 finale to share her experience when her daughter Livvie was diagnosed with ALL. She starts by going back to 2014 when she was pregnant with her youngest daughter and found out Livvie had Down syndrome. She shares the struggles of the early years of managing a child with special needs in addition to two other young children and a full-time job, and how everything took a toll on her marriage, which ended just before Livvie got sick. She shares the story of how Livvie was diagnosed at three years old, and what those early days of treatment looked like. She shares honestly about the struggles of single parenting while managing a child with cancer and special needs, and she speaks emotionally of the challenges in giving herself grace. She remembers with gratitude the way that local churches have provided support for her family while she's been unable to work, and she closes by offering advice to families just now entering their own childhood cancer journey.
